This week is another bountiful podcast as the crew has a surprisingly long discussion about this week’s Gaming Flashback, Make Trax. The guys also discuss 1990′s kids shows like Reading Rainbow and Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? The contest winner for a copy of Magicka is also revealed, as some magical books are discussed.

In the news:

• Rumor: Wii U will cost Nintendo $180 and retail for $300
• Online petition calls for end to Tera ‘censorship’ in EU
• Videogame-only Kickstarter alternative debuting at E3 2012
• NPD: 40% of freemium players pay for in-game upgrades

Interestingly enough, the day after the podcast was recorded, the gore slider issue was resolved.

We also have some great Reader Feedback, but no contest or question this week. Sorry, folks!

NOTE: THIS ARTICLE DISCUSSES THE ENDING AND EVENTS OF MASS EFFECT 3. DO NOT READ IF YOU DO NOT WISH THE GAME TO BE SPOILED FOR YOU.

In this day and age, one learns to take internet outrage with a heavy dollop of salt. The videogame community tends to be reactionary in the worst way, for a few reasons: they tend to be young, they tend to express their immediate feelings almost as a stream of consciousness, and let’s face it, the Greater Internet Dickwad Theory comes into play as well.

When it comes to game endings, when I hear that the community is upset about a game’s ending, I almost always take that as a good sign that the ending is daring and provocative. For example, there was an outcry over the abruptness of the ending of Halo 2, which had the nerve to conclude with a cliffhanger. The 2009 Prince of Persia reboot ended with the player undoing all of the work to free an ancient evil god they’d just imprisoned.

So when I heard that there was a growing outcry about the endings of Mass Effect 3, my interest peaked, because invariably, that meant the story was provocative and daring, instead of predictable and boring.

“What is one grain of sand in the desert? One grain amongst the storm?”

In the case of Prince of Persia, players felt annoyed that The Prince would undo all the effort the player had spent hours working on in the game – but in the context of the story, it made perfect sense and was powerful in its execution. His faithful companion (and possible love interest) Elika sacrificed all of her life force to contain the evil god Ahriman. The game actually had you carry her lifeless body to the altar during the end credits. After he placed her body down, the game gave you the opportunity to just turn the game off – or, you could keep playing, and sever the trees of life on the nearby landscape. When you did, Elika was restored to life, moaned, “Why?!”, as the Prince carried her off as the darkness surrounded them as Ahriman was freed.

It was powerful in that The Prince followed the same path as her father, The Mourning King. He didn’t accept the price, and he was willing to damn the world just to keep her alive. It was a profound “the needs of the one outweigh the needs of the many” moment, and it did force the player to consider the situation from the Prince’s viewpoint. The land was barren, if fertile again. The populace was gone. And, as he stated in the epilogue downloadable content, the prison wasn’t secure anyway. (The fact that Elika never forgave The Prince even at the conclusion of the DLC, leaving him to a grim fate, saved it from being a deux ex machina cop out.)

The Prince of Persia comparison is an apt one, because Mass Effect 3’s ending also negated all of the effort the player put into the game, save the abstract “Galactic Readiness” level that determined if the ending was disastrous or merely inconclusive.

The chief difference between the two, however, is the fact that Prince of Persia’s ending worked within the context of the game. Mass Effect 3 was basically so far out of left field, it felt rushed and contrived.

For those of you who aren’t familiar with the endings, Shepard is given three choices – destroy the Reapers, but in the process, all AI machines along with it, or merge with the Reapers and have them simply fly away, but in the process sacrifice his own life, or merge all organic life with synthetic life. In every case, the Normandy crash lands on a mysterious verdant planet. The “Galactic Readiness” determined how bad the decision would be – a low score would have the Earth destroyed in one ending.

The Synthesis Ending did cause coos of delight from fan fic writers.

The chief problem with the endings aren’t the content. Unto themselves, with no context, they’re perfectly valid endings. Gamers have a problem with them not because of the content itself, it’s the fact that they seem completely and utterly arbitrary, with no consideration for anything that had gone on before. In short, nothing the players did meant anything.

Crazy endings aren’t bad at all, when done right. Anyone who’s played the Silent Hill games can attest to that. The Dog Ending to the second game basically scotched all of the events that had gone on in the game, showing that a Japanese akita dog had been behind it all, as a canine mastermind operating a command center controlling all of the events in the game. It was funny, hysterical, and brilliant, and widely accepted as an ending.

So why did the Mass Effect 3 endings fail? The game was building up to something that never happened.

Before the endings, the player had to make clever moves or suffer some hard choices. They had to negotiate a peace between the Krogan and the Turians while mollifying the Salarians. They had to somehow get the Geth and the Quarians to work together, or have one race utterly wiped out. The decisions from the previous two games reared their heads. Did the player save the Rachni Queen? Did the player save Maleon’s research?

Mass Effect 3 had some of the most haunting moments not only in the series, but in science fiction itself. No player will ever forget Mordin’s final, sacrificial moments curing the insidious Krogan genophage, singing to himself “I am the very model of a Salarian scientist” as the tower exploded all around him. If the player failed to negotiate a peace between the Geth and the Quarians, it ended with beautiful tragedy – and regardless of the player’s choice, it had Legion asking shortly before it died whether it had a soul.

One decision will devastatingly result in Tali commiting a tearful suicide.

Even the romance between Joker and EDI, which could have come off as incredibly idiotic, was sweetly done, as EDI began to experience what it really was to be sentient and emotional.

It is this emotional investment into all of the characters that made the endings such a betrayal to gamers. But not for the reasons they think.

The real reason the endings that were given in Mass Effect 3 were such an insult to players is that everything they’d done to that point – and that includes the first two games – were meaningless. All of the choices given to players to that point had shown a cause-and-effect, and at the very end, all of that was ignored.

In short, the only thing that mattered was the Galactic Readiness meter, and that could be raised to 100% without doing a single thing in single player, since the multiplayer raised the meter alone. There was no connect between the campaign and the ending.

To really contrast this decision, one only need look at Mass Effect 2, which set a template players were expecting in 3.

If the player failed to upgrade their main weapon to the Thannix cannon in the second game, a crew member died. If a player chose the wrong person to lead the second team or provide the biotic bubble, a crew member died. If the player didn’t go on a crew member’s loyalty mission, they potentially could die. Preparation and consequences.

Thannix cannon – don’t leave spacedock without it.

None of that is in Mass Effect 3. Prevent Samara from killing herself and gain an elite Asari commando squad? It was meaningless except for a number that moved you closer to 100% Galactic Readiness. Gain an alliance with the Krogan and the Turians? Just a number. Treat Kalishah al-Jilani nicely and encourage her to keep supporting Earth? Just a number.

Players were expecting their decisions to matter. They wanted to see the Turians fighting, and living or dying depending on how prepared the galaxy was. They wanted to see Jack and her young biotics helping out or dying, depending on the player’s decisions. A player who took their time in the single player campaign, doing most of the sidequests, gaining support, wanted to see the fruits of their labor. Help Aria and get a trio of major mercenary squads on your side? Who wouldn’t want to see a horde of Vorcha and mechs descending on the husks?

When you managed to wrangle up a huge fleet of ships from multiple races for what one of your squadmates said in awe was the biggest fleet ever in the history of the galaxy, you got one brief shot of it. That’s it.

Worse, the endings were a betrayal of the entire theme of the series. The Prothean you managed to save, Javik, near the end of the game talked about how the Prothean Empire, which turned out to be an oppressive militaristic force that basically told all of the races it encountered, “Be our slaves, or else”, couldn’t defeat the Reapers, while an alliance of races working together was more efficient. That was the secret heart of the Mass Effect series. The endings simply dumped all over that concept.

The other problem was the way the endings handled the Reapers. In the first game, the Reapers were mysterious, otherworldly, and a palpable Lovecraftian threat. Basically, they were Elder Gods. When Sovereign boasted in the first game, “You exist because we allow it, and you will end because we demand it” in its deep, metallic voice, that was the point that players realized that the scope of the game had just widened in front of them. It wasn’t about a human-hating Spectre with an army of robot slaves destroying human colonies. It was about the end of life in the galaxy as we know it.

The Reapers at their most threatening.

In the second game, the Reapers became even more blatantly linked to Lovecraft. When exploring a dead Reaper, one log wrote in awe:

“Chandana said the ship was dead. We trusted him. He was right. But even a dead god can dream. A god — a real god — is a verb. Not some old man with magic powers. It’s a force. It warps reality just by being there. It doesn’t have to want to. It doesn’t have to think about it. It just does. That’s what Chandana didn’t get. Not until it was too late. The god’s mind is gone but it still dreams. He knows now. He’s tuned in on our dreams. If I close my eyes I can feel him. I can feel every one of us.”

H.P. couldn’t have written it better himself.

In the third game, the Reapers actually invaded, and they lived up to expectations – unstoppable in force, and peeling away the Earth like an onion. They perverted organic life forms into nightmarish constructs, such as the Banshees.

At the end of the game, however, they’re tools. Nothing more than tools that are conveniently brushed away at one beings whim.

Drew Karpyshyn stated that his endings were different, in that they were cleaning the galaxy of life to save it from Dark Energy, so the choice the player would have would be to either allow the races to be eaten or to destroy the Reapers and deal with extermination by the energy.

Again, that would have the same problems as the endings as they are, if not in a worse fashion. Once again, the Reapers are basically playthings, and in his scenarios, the choice is Apocalypse A or Apocalypse B, and the player never gets to see the fruits of their labor.

Now, I normally would never presume to “fix” another person or person’s artistic work, but if I were asked, this is what I would do:

First off, leave the Reapers be. Just make them forces of nature, as they were portrayed in the previous two games. Hungry godlike machines that do three things: sleep, eat, reproduce. That’s it. No explanation of where they came from. No explanation of their motives. Let them be a mystery; as Voltaire once said, the secret to being boring is to tell everything. The Reapers were at their best when they were godlike boogeymen. Let fans speculate – that’s what they enjoy doing.

“This one just wet his pants at seeing an Enkindler, if this one had any.”

Secondly, let the war play out. Separate the Galactic Readiness from the value of the forces Shepard raised. The quality and number of forces that are required to defeat the Reapers will be in the allies Shepard has rallied to his cause. You should be able to see them fighting, dying and winning or losing their battle. The Galactic Readiness would only determine how ready each force is.

For example, if there are tons of Asari forces but their Readiness is low, they’ll suffer heavy losses but still win a Pyrrhic victory. In there are less Asari forces but the Readiness is high, they’ll win, with their small forces more battle-hardened – however, the Asari will still suffer heavy losses since there’s only a few. A high number of forces and Readiness is high, they’ll wipe out the Reapers in their sector and remain powerful and strong. Low on both counts, the Asari are extinct, akin to losing a crew member in Mass Effect 2.

Everything should play out – it doesn’t matter how long the cutscenes play. This is the final chapter of the Shepard trilogy. Alliances, betrayals, victories, defeats, let it all play out. If BioWare has to keep the Crucible, maybe if the army Shepard raises is strong enough to destroy the Reapers, Shepard can essentially tell the childlike being what to go do with itself. If they can’t, Shepard can choose to sacrifice himself, similar to what he did in the worst case scenario of Mass Effect 2.

Of course, the player would have choices during the end game that could affect the game. The Crucible could be treated as a weapon of last resort that will destroy almost all life, much like the rings in Halo. A boss fight against the leader of the Reapers would also allow players something to do – in order for any sort of victory, the leader of the Reapers would have to be destroyed; perhaps it resurrects Reapers, which could be shown in one mission where it brings back to life the dead Reaper from the second game.

It would also be a good point for Shepard’s Paragon/Renegade option to begin. He could either destroy the wounded Reaper, ensuring that the Reapers never threaten again, but lose something in the process, or he could reach an agreement with the leader, banishing it from the galaxy in exchange for Reaper tech that would keep EDI and the Geth (if they’re still around) sentient. That would be something a Paragon would definitely do.

As with Dragon Age: Origins, an epilogue would give Shepard, who is now the Human Councilor (since Udina’s dead and Anderson doesn’t want it), the ability to change the galaxy one last time, and be given some final choices. For example, he could decree Humans run the Council themselves, retain the status quo, or finally give other races a seat on the Council (which would be a wonderful middle finger and olive branch at the same time to Din Korlack), including, of all things, the Geth.

In the end, the entire point of Mass Effect was to allow the players to write their own story. The three current endings could still be incorporated as bizarre endings to the trilogy, much like the Dog Ending of Silent Hill 2. In that way, they would be so strange they would actually become beloved endings that were smiled about with disbelief. (On a side note, the Synthesis ending was the only ending that made any sort of sense, in that it at least gave closure to one storyline – the Joker/EDI romance.)

This final scene caused tooth decay and cavities in young children.

Finally, without having an inside sources, it seems to me that Mass Effect 3 was rushed to conclusion, that someone set March 6 as a hard release date after the game had been delayed for a few months. The evidence that I have is that much of what Casey Hudson and other BioWare personnel had teased about the game never materialized. The romantic conflicts were relatively mute. The “amazing, definitive” ending never showed up, instead having three definitely non-definitive endings. Hudson cautioning players take their time to finish side quests became irrelevant. There is an unfortunate similarity between Mass Effect 3 and Knights of the Old Republic II in that both games seemed to run out of time and endings were hastily put together, with subplots discarded.

There are two probable factors in this rush. First, Electronic Arts. As much as the publisher has remained hands-off with BioWare, there had to be some pressure to release the game as soon as possible. And secondly, Star Wars: The Old Republic. There is no way BioWare could have undertaken such a massive project without draining manpower from Mass Effect 3.

Again, I have no proof this was the case, but I strongly suspect it was so. Most fans of the series would probably have happily waited to, say, November 2012 for a full experience, if true.

This week, the full man crew is back, and incredibly deep-voiced as they proclaim themselves the Protectors of Humanity™, as Mass Effect 3 launches today. The Gaming Flashback is a Gaming Preview of Assassin’s Creed 3.

This week’s news includes:

• Microsoft: Xbox Live Arcade will be phased out eventually
• Leaked images “nothing to do with” Doom 4, fans will “see awesome”
• SimCity 5 coming in 2013
• GAME drops 5% in shares after Mass Effect 3 no-show
• Rumor: PlayStation 4 ditches Cell processor tech

This, and the most contentious Reader Feedback ever.

This week, there’s no Gaming Flashback or Gaming History, but there is a ton of news and Reader Feedback as Paul is finally present to react to some hate mail.

The news includes some huge items, like:

• No PSN unless you waive lawsuit
• Netflix adds game rentals to Qwikster
• DC Universe Online goes free-to-play
• Xbox Live officially a part of Windows 8
• Microsoft: Xbox TV this Fall
• Rogers Cable ordered to stop throttling gamers
• Nintendo and Valve say no to smartphone games

The Question of the Week: What was the very first home videogame you ever played?

Paul has some angry comments, Jonah has some angry comments, while Jordan just chuckles and makes a Freudian mistake. In between complaints, the Gaming Flashback looks at the Amiga classic Syndicate, and the following news items:

• The Lund Report: August 2011 NPD
• Tiger Woods PGA Tour 12 PC controversy rages
• THQ: Next-gen consoles will be discless
• Quantic Dreams claims they lost 10M euro on used games
• 3DS sales jump 260% following price drop
• Syndicate reboot finally confirmed and unveiled by EA

Finally, the Question of the Week: What was the most disappointing remake or reboot of a game you’ve played? All that and Reader Feedback, too.

Bethesda Softworks vice president of marketing Pete Hines is critzing publishers and developers who shoehorn multiplayer into their games that doing such a thing is “a waste of time” and advises, “Just drop it, don’t bother…it’ll make for a worse game.”

In an interview with Next Gen BIZ, Hines states that using online multiplayer as a tool to prevent used game trade-ins and rental simply doesn’t work, and robs developers of valuable man-hours.

Hines stated:

“(People ask us) for a game like Skyrim or Prey 2, why doesn’t it have multiplayer? Well, our question is always the opposite when we talk to a developer. If you’re doing multiplayer, why are you doing multiplayer? What are you trying to accomplish?

“If you’re doing it just to check a box or because every other publisher says you’ve got to have multiplayer, then just drop it, don’t bother, it’s a waste of time, a giant distraction and it’ll make for a worse overall game.

“We want the best game possible. If that’s a singleplayer game that’s 15 to 20 hours, then make that! Don’t waste your time on features that don’t make the game better.”

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim and Prey 2 are two Bethesda properties that will lack multiplayer, but one of the tools to encourage games to keep both games will be downlodable content and, even more important, good communications with the game communities and nurturing the fandom for both games.

Despite the announced shutdown of Star Wars: Galaxies and the approaching new Star Wars-based MMO Star Wars: The Old Republic, loyal subscribers don’t want Galaxies to end. They’ve begun a petition to try to convince Sony to let the MMO live on as a free-to-play MMO.

The petition asks Sony to convert the game to a ‘freemium’, microtransaction-based MMO, and that Sony consolidate players onto a smaller number of servers and facilitate character transfer to reduce operational costs in order to keep the game running. The petition has already gotten thousands signatures in a few days.

One of the petition leaders posted:

We are not your typical gamers.

We are not a commodity.

But if you look at the recent decision by Lucasarts to shut down Star Wars Galaxies, you might be inclined to think we are both of those things. Lucasarts thinks that we are a non-perishable commodity that can be shoved into a shipping crate and moved down the road to their next project. That is not the case. Not even close.

We are a vibrant community. We have seen our ups and downs, but we are only stronger because of it. We have endured all manner of broken promises and misleading “improvements” to this game, and throughout all of it, we have continued to build our community, and show support and loyalty to this great game. But we didn’t do it because of a game. We did it because of our community here.

No matter how hard you try, you can never apply any sort of label or definition to the players of Star Wars Galaxies. Unfortunately, it seems like Lucasarts is doing just that by assuming we will simply shuffle over to their next product simply because it contains the words “Star Wars” in the title. But oh, that is so far from the truth. We are not your typical gamers, and we are not your typical Star Wars fans. In fact, both of those truths are the very things that make our community so strong.

The world is obsessed with trying to apply labels to groups of people, and will often do so on the basis of pure assumptions and hearsay. You can’t do that with Star Wars Galaxies players. We are not some geeky group of people who simply want to log into a video game and shoot battle droids and fly spaceships with laser guns.

Many of us are highly educated. Many of us have children and families. Many of us have great careers.

Just the other day I learned that a great player on my server of Starsider was once the mayor-elect of his city in Canada. And what’s more, he was 18 years old. I have known a concert violinist, a fireman, a surgeon, a newspaper editor, an EMT, a helicopter pilot, and on and on and on. And all of these people I met through Star Wars Galaxies.

On top of all that, many Star Wars Galaxies players are active service military personnel. I remember once talking to a member of my guild and having him tell me he was logged into Star Wars Galaxies from his base in Iraq. Without a moment’s hesitation, I got his unit’s mailing address and sent him and his comrades a care package. Star Wars Galaxies made that connection possible.

So much happens because of Star Wars Galaxies that goes unnoticed. This is much more than a game to the people who play it. It’s our community. And a community is not a commodity, so don’t be surprised when we want nothing to do with the people who are trying to force us to give up our community just so they can make a few extra bucks.

Sony has apparently not responded well to this “insurgency”, and have started locking any topics referring to the petition. Despite this, the campaign has spread like wildfire among the Star Wars Galaxies community and is beginning to take over the game’s official Facebook page.

Hilariously, Sony has said ”promoting an online petition causes disruption within the community and does not provide gameplay feedback that our development team can use.” What development team, if you’re shutting the MMO down?

Several players have emailed VentureBeat stating they’re joining a class-action lawsuit against Sony shutting down the petitions; one player said that Sony pegged him as a “ring leader” in the protests and threatened to permanently ban him from its games andfile criminal charges against him for trying to cause ”unlawful harm to the company.” Saywhat?

Sony can do whatever it likes on its forums, of course, since the EULA is in effect. Of course, petitions being “unlawful harm” is equally ridiculous. You’d think after SOE got hacked, with Sony remaining mum about it for a while would make people cautious about dealing with the company.

You might notice that I’ve been pretty silent on E3 2011 previews, despite hustling around the entire time. That is because I’ve been writing almost all of them for Strategy Informer.

So, those of you who are regulars at Gaming Podcast – and judging by hits, there are tons of you – here are excerpts of the previews I’ve written for Strategy Informer for PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 titles, plus a link to the full article.

UbiSoft’s Pre-E3 Briefing:

At the briefing, they showed off the following games: Rayman Origins, Driver: San Francisco, Far Cry 3, Brothers In Arms: The Furious Four, The Adventures of Tintin, Ghost Recon: Future Warrior, Trackmania 2, Raving Rabbids: Alive & Kicking, Just Dance 3, Rocksmith, Your Shape Fitness Evolved 2012 and Assassin’s Creed: Revelations. (Read more…)

Dead Island (PC, PS3, 360):

Getting back to the mood of the game, missions are similarly realistic and grim. Nothing in the game seems artificially tacked on; the flow and the suspension of disbelief are extremely well done. During a mission, sometimes you’ll rescue another survivor and they will have a mission for you to do right there in the middle of your current quest. You can opt to help them, ignore them, or even screw them by driving them off in their vehicle. This is survival, and sometimes, jjust sometimes, you may give in to temptations to make choices that will make you normally wince. It’s a zombie dog eats zombie dog world and in the middle of an apocalypse, sometimes you have to fortify your own safety at the expense of another. (Read more…)

Star Wars: The Old Republic (PC):

The devs showed a scene in which a Jedi subdued a Sith Lord, and the Lord accepted his defeat and desired the Jedi kill him quickly. In one variation, the Jedi took the dark side choice, cursing the Lord and killing him. In the other, the Jedi took the light side choice and spared him, detecting his desire for death was guilt. He urged the Lord to seek out the Jedi Council and turn back to the light side. When the Lord questioned if the Jedi would accept him back, the Jedi replied there was only one way to find out. They shifted to later in the game when the Sith Lord had indeed had become a Jedi, and stripped himself of the title General, for it held no meaning for him anymore. This was a case in which the actions of the Jedi had changed the story of the game. (Read more…)

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (PC, PS3, 360):

Dragons are a major adversary in the game, and they are viciously tough. They are also intelligent as well – they have no scripts. They follow a procedural AI that is completely unscripted. In one scene, a dragon swooped down unexpectedly to snatch a badly wounded giant from the player who was about to give the finishing blow, flew high into the air, and dropped the poor giant to his death. Why? Who knows, because the dragon then started fighting the player. It arced around the player, hurled fireballs, landed on the ground to attack with claws, then flew again. The player used one dragon shout to summon a storm that created a hard rain and lightning crashes. This wounded the dragon enough that it could no longer fly, and when a dragon crashes, it’s with an impressive thud. Dragons in Skyrim will be what Big Daddies were in BioShock on the expert difficulty – only there will be no resurrection chamber to save your buttocks when the dragon finishes you off. (Read more…)

Tera (PC):

A Vanarch can choose to be a kind monarch through such actions as lowering taxes and so forth, or can be a merciless tyrant who raises taxes, throws people in jail and institutes that the region is now a PvP anything goes area. Of course, the Vanarch must also be careful not to alienate citizens in his region, or risk being voted out of office. The Political system is a daring social experiment at the least, to see what kind of rulers guild leaders will be over a region populated by other players. (Read more…)

Awesomenauts (PS3, 360):

The game plays like your typical Metal Slug clone, with action-platforming, but bursts of jetpacks can allow them to hover in midair for a while, too. Players battle each other with each characters unique weaponry, while trying to bring down the barriers. Barriers are protected by laser turrets. Turrets also spew little minions who basically serve as cannon fodder – staying behind them to absorb damage while you fire over them. Of course, enemy minions are spewed by the turrets, too. (Read more…)

Star Trek (PC, PS3, 360):

The differences in play styles between Kirk and Spock are as you might expect: Kirk tends toward brute force, while Spock gravitates towards finesse and stealth. The differences are even reflected in the more subtle ways. At the beginning of the demo, Kirk and Spock are using the jets in their exosuits to navigate a minefield while trying to reach a hijacked U.S.S. Enterprise. While Kirk clumsily crashes into the ship, Spock makes a perfect two point landing. (Read more…)

The War of the Worlds (360):

The game features a washed out, nearly black and white look in alien controlled areas, which become more colorful when retaken by humanity. The developers state the game is a puzzle-platformer in the mold of Flashback, Out of This World and Prince of Persia, but fans will also see a resemblance to Limbo as well. The game will feature eleven massive levels and dozens of different areas filled with hostile aliens and fleeing humans, but unlike Limbo, the game will telegraph potential deadly traps, making the game more about near death experiences, rather than trial and error. (Read more…)

Defiance (PC, PS3, 360):

This Earth isn’t too familiar, however. Taking place in the near future, it represents a time when aliens have arrived and have begun to terraform the planet to their liking, so expect a bizarre melding of indigenous Earth plants and animals interacting with strange alien flora and fauna. Humans are trying to stop the aliens from changing the Earth, so many missions come from, say, preventing terraforming equipment from arriving in one piece. (Read more…)

Prototype 2 (PC, PS3, 360):

Prototype 2 takes place a while after. New York City has been cordoned off into three sections: Red, Yellow and Green. The Red section is where the virus is still running rampant, and horrific mutations roam. The Yellow section is a quarantine for those who escaped the Red section, but must remain due to suspicion of infection. Finally, the Green section is the healthy part of New York – but it’s not so healthy in that a militia has been stationed there to protect the citizens from incursion by infected – but rule with a violent iron fist. An example of this is when a curious blob of infection has found itself in a lot, the militia deal with onlookers by giving them a few seconds to disperse then opening fire on the crowd with live ammo and killing them. (Read more…)

Star Trek: Infinite Space (PC):

As captain, you can outfit your ship in a myriad of ways, and there are tons of modules that can be purchased (and will be visually reflected on your ship). You can purchase anything from extra ship’s phaser power to buying a cloaking device. Each station in the game varies in the wares it sells. For example, purchasing from a Federation shop will get you the standard stuff, but of very high quality, while you’ll find lesser quality items from the Ferengi, but they’ll also be selling hard-to-find black market items, too. Being a free-to-play MMO, you can buy items with real money microtransactions. (Read more…)

Payday: The Heist (PC, PS3):

One of the biggest thrills is that unlike Left 4 Dead and other like-minded games, you don’t have to jump into the action right away, and you don’t even have to play with guns ablazing. In the bank heist we tried at E3, you entered the banks with weapons hidden to case the joint, looking for the bank manager, who owns the security pass card to the vault. You have to be careful, though – wander too close to a guard and they’ll see your hidden weaponry and react with force. (Read more…)

My previews aren’t done – I’ll update this page as I add previews.

Activision’s Dan Amrich posted in his One of Swords blog that two million users have signed up Call of Duty: Elite‘s beta, who said the number ”blew his mind” when ”they hit that number in less than two weeks. That should give the dev team at Beachhead plenty to work with to kick off the beta, which officially starts July 14.”

“The official start of the beta is a month away, so there’s still plenty of time for you to sign up. When the studio head at Beachhead said this would be a live beta, he was not kidding — your participation really can make a difference in how Elite evolves,” added Amrich, ”And don’t be discouraged by the big number, thinking you shouldn’t bother because they already have enough people — two million volunteers among 30 million Call of Duty players is a small amount. More would be even better. Once you’ve signed up, just watch your email inbox for an invite.”

The 2M beta applications aren’t necessarily an endorsement for Elite. Rather, users are probably curious to see the beta and if it pleases them. The paid subscription portion reportedly only represents 10% of Elite, anyway, and is aimed at more “professional” and “hardcore” gamers, aka clans.

Users can apply for the beta here.

The gaming podcast is back for the full edition, this week we’ve got a preview look at the title Orcs Must Die! developed by Robot Entertainment. Besides our awesome community comments we’ve got some news coverage including:

• LG Lawsuit Stops PS3 Shipments In Europe
• Mortal Kombat Banned in Australia
• Rift Claims More End-Game Content Than Any MMO Launch, Ever
• Browser Based PC Games The Future?
• Research Analyst: PC Gaming Is Indeed Dying

This week, we’ve got a question for you: What is your favorite gaming food? And, if you want to see the Orcs Must Die! youtube trailer, check it out after the break.

With the strong rumor that Halo: Combat Evolved is going to be remade graphically from the ground up, it brings us to the question of why aren’t more games being remade? We’re not talking about reboots like the new emo Devil May Cry, or re-imaginings like the first person shooter XCOM. We’re talking about a true remake like you see endlessly from Square-Enix with its Final Fantasy games on the handhelds – they’re completely faithful to the original, save a new engine, graphics and occasionally an additional mission or two; the upcoming localization of Dragon Quest VI is a great example.

So, we’ve picked out seven games that desperately need a modern remake, sometimes due to their primitive graphics, sometimes due to their incompatibility with the current OS, or the fact you need to do some major tweaking to get them to run (unless GOG.com does it for you, bless their souls.)

These games aren’t old or have already been remade, so you won’t see M.U.L.E., Sid Meier’s Pirates or Seven Cities of Gold – in fact, the oldest of the games is from 1994. You also won’t see games that require little work to be remade, which is why you won’t see Grim Fandango here, either. These games would require serious undertaking. The games also have to remain the same genre and style, so no Elder Scrolls version of Ultima IV, either.

Without further ado, here are five older games that desperately need a remake – in alphabetical order.

Age of Empires II

This was the game that made Ensemble Studios a star. While the first Age of Empires was a good game, mixing Civilization with Warcraft, Age of Empires II: Age of Kings, released in 1999, honed the game to a fine sheen, and made a real-time strategy game that even people who didn’t like RTS’s enjoy. There was just something magical about the game – the lush graphics, the gameplay choices and the way abilities were branched. It was as addictive as Warcraft II, but it was far easier to relate to because it was about human history, not the fictional fantasy land of Azeroth. Most gamers didn’t even know what a trebuchet was until this game.

The Remake: Well, the graphics were lush in 1999 – they’re just pixellated now. There’s no changes needed in gameplay, but the graphic engine could use a boost, even if it were to just Warcraft III levels. We’re greedy, though – we’d like to see it push graphic cards for those gamers who could handle it, like Starcraft II. One of the things that we’re implement is that every single civilization look different. The French should look different than the British, let alone the Aztecs, Saracens or Japanese. With better CPUs, have mega-sized maps with 16 players going on at once.

The Reality: Robot Entertainment, which is comprised chiefly of ex-Ensemble Studio developers, is making Age of Empires Online, an MMORTS that allows for both co-op and competitive gaming. The graphics are on the cel-shaded cartoon side, and the MMO itself will be free-to-play with premium content. It’ll be a Windows LIVE game, so it’ll even have Xbox 360 Achievements.

Deus Ex

One of the most beloved games of the last decade, released in 2000, Deus Ex successfully melded the roleplaying and first person shooter genres. The game was filled with dialog, philosophy, paranoia, and one of the first computer roleplaying games that dispensed with the idea that killing enemies granted experience points – exploration and mission goals did. The game won most of the Game of the Year Awards that year, and with good reason. People still play it even now.

The Remake: Unfortunately, the graphics were poor even in 2000. While not on the level of bad that the character models were in System Shock 2, the way the character’s mouths moved was silly at best, distracting at worst. The game desperately needs a graphic overhaul. Imagine instead of the Unreal engine it was developed on, if it were done on the Unreal 3 engine. Combat could be made smoother, though since RPG stats are applied to gun skills, it may be an inherent flaw that can’t be fixed.

The Reality: Deus Ex: Human Revolution is being released this year, as a prequel to the first game. It’s looking very good, and recent gameplay videos are reassuring in that it really is a Deus Ex game.

Giants: Citizen Kabuto

Giants: Citizen Kabuto is a game that has been all but forgotten – a third person shooter mixed with real-time-strategy, but where Brute Force failed, Giants succeeded. Not only did it have wildly different gameplay perspects when the player’s control went from the tech-obsessed Meccaryns, the magic-wielding mermaid-like Sea Reapers, to the giant Godzilla-like Kabuto, but a dry, witty British wit dispersed through the entire game. The game created a believable alien world, and had fun with it, without forgetting there was pathos as well. This game was well ahead of its time, basically Beyond Good & Evil before Beyond Good & Evil.

The Remake: The game’s beautiful graphics hold up in 2010, but the awesome vistas could be made more detailed. While all of the games in this list could use a graphic overhaul, Giants would greatly benefit from the current dual analog gamepads of today. Mouse and keyboard just didn’t feel right with Giants, and the PlayStation 2 version did use it to great benefit. Most of all, the gamers of 2010 would be more interested in Giants than the gamers back in 2000 did. This game deserves a new audience.

The Reality: There are no plans for the IP, even with Big Moon acquiring 37 ex-Shiny Entertainment employees.

Master of Magic

Speaking of genre mixing, which seems to be a running theme here, Master of Magic was a joyous blending of Civilization, Master of Orion, and Magic: The Gathering. This was one of the few games at the time (1995) which had truly unique units that looked and acted unique, while maintaining some level of balance, though some veterans will grumble about the human paladins and halfling slingers. It had colored, themed magic, aggressive opponents and some deep gameplay. It was almost impossible to play with new Windows OS’s until GOG.com released a slightly modified version designed to handle new rigs. Thank you, GOG!

The Remake: Again, the graphics, while they still hold up somewhat – after all, it is a turn-based strategy game – could use an upgrade, and unlike most games, since it’s tile-based, it would be easy to do. Of course, you could go for the isometric, breaktaking beauty of Civilization V, too. However, detailed 3D modeled units would be just fabulous. The game still could use some gameplay balance tweaking – and while you’re at it, how about AI sliders much like sports games?

The Reality: Atari owns the license, and is currently doing nothing with it. Age of Wonders was a semi-successful attempt to mimick the game, and Stardock has pined for the license for years, and have released their take on the genre with Elemental: War of Magic. At this point, a Master of Magic 2 is too much of a pipe dream – how about a Master of Magic 1.5 remake?

Sid Meier’s Railroad Tycoon

The game that started the entire “Tycoon” craze. Sid Meier created a game based on some railroad board games that he loved, in which you laid down track, being mindful of grade and value of the land, linked cities and competed with the various rail barons of the time. The game took you from the very humble beginnings of 1830, when train engines looked like stoves on wheels, to the modern era of streamlined engines. There was also economic competition, as you and three other historic railroad owners battled it out not only for cities, but for each others stock – there was nothing more fun than owning another company lock, stock and barrel. The game’s scope was tremendous – you could do the entire United States, just the West Coast, just the East Coast, and Europe. (The Deluxe Edition added Africa and South America.)

The Remake: Technically, I’m bending the rules here, since there was a remake, Sid Meier’s Railroad! However, that game had little in common with the original game. It, like Railroad Tycoon II and III (both of which were not developed by Meier), was extremely focused and had none of the scope of the original. The maps were much smaller, there was no economic warring, and it just felt limited. Having a Railroad Tycoon with the complexity of the original but 2011 graphics would be a danger to human life on Earth, from its sheer addictiveness.

The Reality: The entire Railroad Tycoon IP seems to be dormant, if not dead. Sid Meier’s Railroad! is still available for download – and pretty inexpensive. The best in the genre, however, is available free for download, though the controls are wonky.

System Shock

Rather than going with the more well-known sequel, we’re going with the original System Shock. Released in 1994, this game was shockingly advanced for its time. Most shooters were games like DOOM - maze crawls with no plot or story, or even interactive environments save “insert key here”. System Shock was basically a deep roleplaying game in first person perspective. It also introduced one of the all-time great villains, SHODAN.

The Remake: The first System Shock desperately needs an update. Forgetting the 1994 level graphics (which predate by two years games like Quake and Duke Nukem 3D), the controls are absolutely horrid. There’s no mouse look, the inventory is confusing, the gameplay is stilted. However, the design is still amazing, the environments, for all their dated graphics, are detailed and logical, and the story is just as captivating as the sequel’s. It really needs modern conveniences and standards, however.

The Reality: Forget it. The System Shock IP is in legal hell, and the closest anyone will ever come to System Shock is the BioShock series.

Thief: The Dark Project

When people talk about stealth-based games, there’s really only one series: the Thief series. Other games like Metal Gear Solid or No One Lives Forever have nods to it, but only Thief made it the main gameplay mechanic. Garrett the Thief, one of the coolest characters in videogame history, can’t fight. He can take on one guard, but if he’s discovered, you may as well put a toe tag on him. His job is to avoid contact. The hardest difficulty levels not only require he not kill anyone, but sometimes not knock any civilians out. We’re going with the first game, which is the hardest of the series to implement on new computers, and is also the creepiest and scariest of the three games.

The Remake: Like Deus Ex and System Shock 2, the human character models were terrible, even for the time (1999). Thief: The Dark Project‘s humans looked like carved wooden marionettes, and even jerked around like them. The game’s Dark engine was mainly concerned with light sources and how they fell on objects. It also didn’t let the game feel too “floaty”, which Thief: Deadly Shadows was.

The Reality: Thief 4 is coming either late this year or 2012. Hopefully, it’ll recapture the scariness and gameplay of the original. But a remake of the original story would still be awesome.

Those are the Seven Games we’d most like to see remade – let us know if you have your own ideas for games that should be remade. We do, so sometime in the future we’ll have a Part II to this list. Let us know what you think.

(Originally on GameStooge.)

GameStooge, 2Old2Play and Gaming Podcast have joined forces with Telltale Games and are offering three chances to win the PC version of Wallace & Gromit’s Grand Adventures – the entire four episode season!

That’s right – you can win the entire season, a $34.95 value, which includes:

• Fright of the Bumblebees, which comes out March 24
• The Last Resort (May)
• Muzzled (June)
• The Bogey Man (July)

Winners get the order code to get each chapter as it comes out for free!

For Gaming Podcast, you merely need to post a comment stating your favorite brand of cheese. Just let us know which cheese makes you drool – whether it’s the tanginess of cheddar or the mildness of Gouda. The majesty of Roquefort or the commonness of American. You don’t even need to restrict it to cow’s milk cheese, too – if you love goat cheese, let us know! Only one entry per user, and you have to impress us with your love of that fine dairy product. The contest ends March 24, 12 noon EST.

You have two other chances at GameStooge and 2Old2Play – please head over there and checkout their contests!

As a huge fan of Showtime’s Dexter, we’re excited (afraid?) to hear they’re making a game in its image. We actually pay for an Amazon Unbox because we’re too cheap to buy Showtime for all their other shows. A Dexter game could be killer on the PC and iPhone.

Obviously the first problem to concern ourselves with is the franchise name, all too often we end up with ‘branded’ named games that produce awful results. It’s easy to get lost in the idea of making money on the name Dexter than putting in the time to a quality game release.

There is a high probability a Dexter game is going to suck, but we can hold up our hopes they do the franchise justice and create something scary but entertaining with a good storyline. How else can you represent a TV series in which the main character is a serial killer and he justifies his killings?

(Thanks, Joystiq)

The last few weeks we’ve often brought up, on the gaming podcast, our reasons behind why Gears of War 2 wouldn’t be a PC title and only an Xbox 360. Our theory was more of a marketing tactic, assuming there would be no PC version because Microsoft wants to focus the attention of their big titles to the Xbox 360 as it’s a real gaming platform and they want more attention on it.  We might have been wrong.

In a recent interview, IGN asked Epic’s Cliff Bleszinski some pointed questions about the PC release. Like us, everyone has been questioning the move to NOT release Gears of War 2 on the PC especially considering the first game made a PC debut and Epic has always been a big PC developer. Turns out, Epic is utilizing the Xbox 360 as a nice big can of DRM.

“Here’s the problem right now; the person who is savvy enough to want to have a good PC to upgrade their video card, is a person who is savvy enough to know bit torrent to know all the elements so they can pirate software.” (ign)

Following this answer he confirmed with a definitive no that we won’t see GoW2 on the PC. Of course, they also underscore the fact that the PC can have a wild array of hardware chipsets for video cards and catering to the masses with compatibility is pretty much a nightmare. A system with great DRM and a closed hardware platform is hard to pass up.

If Epic is going to take this route, will we see other major PC developers take the same road? Had the Xbox 360 been a failure, developers would continue to rely on the PC as their platform of choice for many franchises. Now, with the 360 vibrant and popular, developers are able to build a closed platform game with a high degree of safety against piracy.

Although pirates can produce hacked 360 games, it’s not nearly as easy to get them, create them and make them work on a stock Xbox 360 console. It’s not about making it impossible to pirate, it’s about making it hard enough that gamers will justify purchasing over the work of making the game function on their 360.

If I were a die-hard PC gamer, I’d be afraid of this movement. You’re running bleeding edge hardware that developers are afraid to take advantage of because you might just push the game to a torrent site. And, why would they cater to the bleeding edge customers when all the others don’t have hardware strong enough to play the game.

The chipset excuse seems a bit weak, we’ve always had hardware that’s been good and hardware that’s been old and crusty yet developers do their best to try to accomodate the middle end and high end systems leaving the “System Requirements” specifications on the box to do the rest. Are they just making excuses so they can protect the integrity of their game from would-be pirates?

Yesterday a rumor started which said Google was looking to purchase Valve Software, the makers of Half-Life, Team Fortress and, of course, Portal. While Valve Software boasts a 20-million unit sales on their archive of awesome games, what interest would google have in gaming?

From google’s own corporate mission statement: “Google’s mission is to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.” How would gaming fit into the dynamic of organizing the worlds information?

Some have said they’d be interested in Valve’s Steam system for distributing games and products. That seems far fetched considering all the CDN solutions on the Net, especially those focused towards media related projects like Liberated Syndication (Wizzard Media), which we use to host our gaming podcast, or other video solutions which would fit more into the Google playing field (considering the large purchase of youtube.com)

Today, Doug Lombardi of Valve, pubically said that Valve Software is willing to be purchased but stated the Google rumor was “a bit of fiction.” (kotaku) While Valve Software has shown they can make awesome titles with stability and dedication, knowing their open to being purchased is slightly disturbing.

I’m always happy for those “little guys” that make it in the big world of cut throat game development, there is some satisfaction knowing the smaller developers are making big waves against publishers like EA and Activision. Valve has changed the way we download games electronically and continues to expand their dominion; if Valve Software was purchased by a bigger company, would we still get the same quality and innovation from the developers?

It was April of 2008 when we saw Assassin’s Creed show up on the PC, however in early February the game appeared on Internet pirate sites causing an estimated 700,000 downloads of the pirated copy of the game. The disc-copy manufacturer has assumed responsibility of the issue after finding an employee in possession of one of their copies of Assassin’s Creed at their home.

First, the disc-copy firm has said they haven’t enforced their high level of security needed to keep copies of the game in their possession. The earliest leaks of the pirated Assassin’s Creed was traced to an employees house, leading Ubisoft to assume “gross negligence” on the part of the manufacturer, inspiring the lawsuit.

To top off matters, pre-release copies of Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed contained a hidden bug to crash the game mid-way through, which makes their title look bad when sent to the mass market pirating audience (do they really need to impress pirates?)

This isn’t the first time copies of a game, music or movies have made their pre-release debut on torrents and pirate sites. As for us, we find it odd that someone who managed to sneak out the game early wouldn’t have simply enjoyed it in the comfort of their own home choosing to pirate it and hurt the industry instead. Hopefully they’ve been given their pink slip for being irrisponsible and hurting everyones reputation. Hope they really feel like a liberated hero now.

(Thanks, gamespot)

When you hear the word Wolfenstein what game do you think of? Constantly, I recall Wolfenstein 3D and all the memorable times I had building my first person shooter fingers. From a new-generation FPS perspective, Return to Castle Wolfenstein for the PC back in 2001 was my last touch on a Wolfenstein game series. I enjoyed it a great deal and would love to see more out of the game series.

It seems Activision and Raven Software are working on a PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 game, currently titled Wolfenstein set to be released “when it is done.” The game follows the same concepts as most of the Wolfenstein titles of the past, a bit of dark science fiction and undead matched with World War II settings with Nazi’s and the main character BJ Blazkowicz.

This series seems to be full of re-hash and repeat with plots, characters and overall feel. Developers seem to favor re-makes over sequels to the famous franchise, eventually putting out one or two sequels of their re-make hits well with customers.

Is this the correct direction for the Wolfenstein franchise? In my humble opinion, it doesn’t really matter to me because I’m such a fan of the series. Perhaps they will continue to re-make the game until the larger demographic screams “Not again!”

(Thanks, Eurogamer)

While compiling a list of games to respond to a user question on the TD Gaming Podcast, I’ve noticed something about this years gaming lineup: their mainly all sequels! Are there any new franchises taking a risk in the market or just more of the same? Some are not really “sequels” but spin-offs of the same franchise.

A few examples of some October time frame titles: Fable 2, Far Cry 2, Gears of War 2, Rock Band 2, C&C: Red Alert 3, Saints Row 2, Rayman Raving Rabbids 3, Tekken 6, Call of Duty 5, Guitar Hero World Tour, Tom Clancy End of War, Sing Star Vol 2 and others.

There are a few original titles: Afrika for the PlayStation 3, Little Big Planet (PS3) and Huxley (360 and PC). Most of the original franchise creations seem to be PlayStation 3 related, probably because the console needs some major hits to spur more sales.

Is the market so competitive and risky that new franchises are becoming a rare breed? Last year we saw Assassin’s Creed and before that Viva Pinata and Gears of War exclusive on the Xbox 360. Consider Viva Pinata a “slight” failure in terms of excitement and Gears of War a success, that’s 50/50 in terms of risk vs. reward.

We’re going to see sequels for both of these new franchises (Viva Pinata: Trouble in Paradise and Gears of War 2) with no word yet on Assassin’s Creed 2. Perhaps E3 will show off some hype for a brand new franchise but the chances are great we’ll be bombarded with part two and part three all the way to part six to known game franchises.

It seems the 2008 holiday season is going to be filled with “safety net titles” in terms of risk vs. reward. It’s hard to argue Gears of War 2 in terms of sales and profit, making it a great safety title, but where is all the brand new titles? We can’t look towards Nintendo to produce anything as they’ve been kicking out Mario and Zelda titles for fifteen years, we must look towards other developers, but who?

Electronic Arts has proven to be very reliant on past titles performance when developing their next big hit. They’re the master of tagging a title with a year and releasing it (Madden is a great example). TheSims, Battlefield and Command and Conquer are a few of their known titles which get seemingly yearly franchise releases. Who can we look towards to take the risk?

Microsoft and Sony are the most likely to kick out a brand new franchise as it would make the title exclusive to their console and, considering the money the spend on marketing their consoles, they’ve got enough money to deposit in risking a new franchise in hopes for a hit.

Although we’re all happy to see yet another release of TheSims, Fable, Far Cry, Rock Band and other hot titles, it’s also nice to see something new and creative hit the store shelves. Apparently we have to stop buying into the sequels (i.e. GTA IV) before we’re going to see any real change, forcing developers to risk their reputation for the next great game innovation.

Nobody wants to get in the way of a hardcore gaming addict. The last thing an addicted user needs to know is their account has been hacked, their weapons and armor have been sold and all of their money is gone.

World of Warcraft is a timeless classic, timeless because you can play it forever, and classic because it’s now going on 4-years old. This MMORPG, like all MMO’s, is account based and your account describes everything about you, your gaming habits and your character traits. It’s the next greatest bundle of important riches aside from your bank account. Shouldn’t it be just as secure?

For a mere €6.00 (or USD $9.46) you can purchase this international electronic device which allows you to press a button to get a secret key to login; the key code is only good for one use so the owner of the device is the only one whom can login to the account.

This system is similar to the PayPal device or some Government Contractor remote login accounts for working from home.

The device is not yet available, but shall be showing up in the “near future.” If you’re a WoW player, consider this because $9.00 is a great piece of mind for hundreds of hours of grinding safety.

PARIS, France. June 26, 2008 — Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. today introduced an optional extra layer of security for World of Warcraft®, its award-winning massively multiplayer online role-playing game. Designed to attach to a keychain, the lightweight and waterproof Blizzard® Authenticator is an electronic device that generates a six-digit security code at the press of a button. This code is unique, valid only once, and active for a limited time; it must be provided along with the account name and password when signing in to the World of Warcraft account linked to it.

This optional security measure will be available for a cost of €6.00 at the 2008 Blizzard Entertainment Worldwide Invitational, which takes place June 28-29 in Paris, France. In addition, the Blizzard Authenticator will be made available for purchase via Blizzard Entertainment’s European websites in the near future for a cost of €6.00 plus shipping.

“It’s important to us that World of Warcraft offers a safe and enjoyable game environment,” said Mike Morhaime, CEO and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment. “One aspect of that is helping players avoid account compromise, so we’re pleased to make this additional layer of security available to them.”

To learn more about the Blizzard Authenticator, please visit http://eu.blizzard.com/security-token/.